GODZILLA & Other Monster Music

***The Akira Ifukube Classical Index***

Though more widely known for his film music, Akira Ifukube has also composed an
impressive body of classical work that has been performed and recorded
extensively over the years. Born in Hokkaido in 1914, Ifukube developed a
strong interest in music at an early age, and was greatly inspired by the
traditional music and culture of the Ainu, the indigenous people of Northern
Japan. He was also heavily influenced by the works of European classical
composers, particularly Igor Stravinsky and Manuel de Falla, and studied modern
Western composition under Russian pianist Alexandre Tcherepnin. Ifukube wrote
his first work, Piano Suite (1933), at age 19, more than 14 years
before his first film score.

Below is an alphabetical index of Ifukube's
classical works. Each title is followed by a list of all known CD appearances of that work,
including links to each CD's review page. The listings are presented chronologically by recording
date,since many of the CDs feature older recordings that were previously released on vinyl LPs.

(Special thanks to Ed Godziszewski, whose “Classical Works of Akira Ifukube – a Chronological
Listing”, from G-Fan #18, 1995, proved to be a valuable source in researching the titles for this index.)